International business plan competition allows women entrepreneurs from around the world to develop and scale their businesses
INSEAD, the leading international business school, announced the five-year anniversary of its partnership with the prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards. The awards are an annual business plan competition for women entrepreneurs from around the world, and were created in 2006 by Cartier and the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society in partnership with INSEAD and McKinsey.
‘We are honoured to celebrate five years of partnership with the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards,’ said Loïc Sadoulet, Affiliate Professor of Economics, founder of the Africa Initiative at INSEAD and juror on the Sub-Saharan Africa panel for the Awards. ‘INSEAD is truly committed to supporting entrepreneurship around the world and has been involved in this important initiative the past five years to help women scale their businesses for long-term success.’
Each year, six female entrepreneurs, each representing a major world region, are selected among 18 finalists who are coached before the final presentations. The 2011 finalists, hailing from 13 different countries, were selected from a pool of over 1,000 projects. The female entrepreneurs lead companies in sectors ranging from maternal health to waste management, engineering and continuing adult education.
Three finalists are grouped in each region, including Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East & North Africa, North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The following women entrepreneurs will vie to become one of the six laureates to receive the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award which grants US$20,000 in funding toward their business, as well as a full year of coaching and unique networking opportunities:
- Asia-Pacific: Svati Bhogle, Sustaintech, India; Chunhong Chen, Yiyuan Environmental Group, China; and Yi Chen, Shanghai Web Elephant, China
- Europe: Penina First, Swifto, Israel; Kresse Wesling, Elvis & Kresse, United Kingdom; and Cara Sayer, Really Simple Ideas, United Kingdom
- Latin America: Liset and Ximena Contreras, Pelletbol, Bolivia; Carolina Guerra, Ingerecuperar, Columbia; and Rosario Rariz and Adriana Brusa, Inforpyme, Uruguay
- Middle East & North Africa: Rana El Chemaitelly, The Little Engineer, Lebanon; Zein Shiyyab, Etraining1.com, Jordan; and Nawal Yaghi Fakhry, Nayaghi Banet Taxi, Lebanon
- North America: Jeanette Hill, Spot on Sciences, United States; Benita Singh and Summer Rayne Oakes, Source4Style, United States; and Meg Wirth, Maternova, United States
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Linda Ravenhill, Videolive, South Africa; Lorna Rutto, Ecopost, Kenya; and Lauren Thomas, Mozambikes, Mozambique
Bernard Fornas, President and CEO of Cartier International, said: ‘We remain committed to encouraging enterprising women helming meaningful businesses. Our initiative provides concrete action through funding, access to international visibility and networks and, perhaps most crucial of all, ongoing business coaching provided by members of our own staff and our partners INSEAD and McKinsey and Company.’
Fornas continued: ‘We are all proud to guide these businesses as they start up, to give them a sense of credibility, foster their belief and sometimes even help to make a difference.’
The laureates will be chosen by a set of six regional jury panels, which includes Loïc Sadoulet, professor of Economics and founder of the Africa Initiative at INSEAD. The jurors represent a wide variety of profiles, backgrounds and countries. They are responsible for selecting the laureates based on creativity, financial sustainability, and social and environmental impact.
‘I truly appreciate the work that is put in to assigning the right coach to the right finalists. It’s a personalised fit that makes the experience all the more enriching,’ said Florian Schmieg, a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, INSEAD class of 2009 graduate and Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards coach for the past two years. ‘The more I participate, the more I can build on my own experience to help new entrepreneurs, not just through my work as a consultant, but as a coach.’
The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards are a joint partnership project initiated by Cartier, the Women’s Forum, McKinsey and INSEAD. Each partner brings its expertise to the initiative. Cartier plays a leading role in the organisation of the competition and provides coaching and funding for the projects. The Women’s Forum delivers visibility and networking opportunities for the finalists, and INSEAD and McKinsey pre-select the projects and coach the finalists.
For more information on the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards, please visit: http://www.cartierwomensinitiative.com
